Cold Equations
For the real life science fiction story referenced in-universe, see ''The Cold Equations.'' Star Trek: Cold Equations is a miniseries set in era, and written by David Mack. It details the rise of a new threat to the Federation, in which one the crew of the is embroiled. It is in particular a sequel to Jeffrey Lang's pre-Nemesis novel, Immortal Coil, as well as continuing various plots from the post-''Destiny'' novels and the Typhon Pact series. Its central concern are the artificial intelligences and android cultures seen within Star Trek. Development According to its author, David Mack, the trilogy was originally planned as an ending to the Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books line of Star Trek novels. The original novel plans were not used, as As he described on internet forum TrekBBS: I started brainstorming story ideas for the trilogy with the editor in December of 2010, even before we had a contract. For a variety of reasons, I ended up using none of the ideas from that first round of pitches. I started work on the trilogy in March of 2011. I had first drafts of story outlines by May of 2011. In its original incarnation, the working title of the trilogy was Star Trek Kindred. The theme for the trilogy was "family." Book one was an early version of The Persistence of Memory, but without the Soong story, and the resurrected character was revealed near the start of the story. Book Two was about the death of Picard, and Book Three was about the ascendance of Worf to control of the Klingon Empire. As one might imagine, there were a lot of plot and continuity problems with the first-pass outlines. My second proposal for the trilogy (still under the banner title of Kindred) was submitted on August 15, 2011. I'd added the Soong story arc to the middle of The Peristence ''sic of Memory'', which was very close to its eventual final version. (One big difference: this intermediate version involved the return of Rhea McAdams; in retrospect, maybe I should have kept that, to set her up better before book three. Oh, well.) Book Two was changed to a story about Worf and his adult son, Alexander. It was plotted as a sequel to Keith R.A. DeCandido's novel Diplomatic Implausibility. Book Three was the tale of elderly Jean-Luc Picard battling his own deteriorating mind and the cruel schemes of the time-and-space-hopping Devidians (TNG: "Time's Arrow", Pts. 1 & 2). It would have ended with the death of Picard, and served as a swansong for Pocket's line of Star Trek books. (At that time, S&S was considering letting go of the Trek license.) It would have been a bittersweet and deeply personal novel, and it's the only one of the scrapped ideas that I'm sad I won't get to write. The next curve ball in the process was the decision by S&S to renew its Star Trek license. By late August, my mandate to "turn off the universe on my way out" was changed to "deliver a trilogy that keeps the story going and sets up a new status quo." So, in fall of 2011, I had to go back to the drawing board. My next round of proposals, which were pretty much near-final versions of all three stories, was submitted on October 28, 2011. After parsing the notes from the editor and fellow authors, I revised the outlines for books one and two and resubmitted them on November 11, 2011. The final version of book three's story outline was turned in on November 29, 2011. I got the green light to proceed with book one on December 13, 2011. The stories for books two and three were approved on January 18, 2012. I started writing book one, The Persistence of Memory, in December 2011. I delivered the manuscript on February 1, 2012. Started writing Silent Weapons on February 3, 2012. Turned in the manuscript on April 14, 2012. Started writing The Body Electric on April 17, 2012. Turned in the manuscript on June 30, 2012. So, from first brainstorm to final manuscripts: approximately 18 months.David Mack, 'Questions for Mr. Bennett and Mr.Mack', TrekBBS, Dec 10 2013. Novels References